Gibson Dunn

Firm overview:

The substantial trade secrets practice at full-service firm Gibson Dunn is “strongly recommended” for the ranking table, according to one client.

When asked the criteria for choosing trade secrets counsel, this client is clear: “I look for forum experience (including knowledge of the judge and local rules), fluency with the legal standards (particularly around discovery), comfort with technology, and the ability to grasp quickly the business’s risk appetite in the dispute and translate that into strategy. I would strongly recommend including Gibson in your ranking.”

The firm’s IP practice, along with its labour and employment groups, feed into its trade secrets practice, which in turn overlap with its criminal/white collar investigations. These form the foundation for a robust, well-rounded trade secrets practice. Indeed the firm’s long-established cross-office and cross-departmental approach underpins this strength.

Team overview:

Three of the firm’s US offices—New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco—have the largest concentration of its 30-plus trade secrets lawyers, which works most often with the London office on cross-border work. Expertise among the group’s lawyers ranges from technical to non-technical, in industries including life sciences, banking, aviation, sports and entertainment.

Co-chair of the firm’s Trade Secrets Practice Group Ilissa Samplin, based in Los Angeles, traverses both the IP and employment groups. Specialising in media, entertainment and tech, she brings a strategic, proactive force to her work. “Ilissa has been a truly excellent counsel for us—on technical expertise, strategic advice, courtroom advocacy, and collaborative client service,” says one major client. “She’s a fantastic lawyer and a pleasure to work with.”

Key members of the group are Kieran Kieckhefer, who joined the group last year and brings an impressive docket of technical trade secrets work; Angelique Kaounis, who focuses purely on trade secrets cases, both technical and non-technical; and a “maestro in the courtroom” Orin Snyder, who secured a recent victory for DraftKings.

The group is much bolstered by the firm’s patent litigators who support the trade secrets practice. Notable names in this group are Kieckhefer; Stuart Rosenberg; Josh Krevitt and Brian Rosenthal.

Key matters:

• Apple v Gerard Williams III
  Gibson Dunn represented Apple, the plaintiff in a dispute with former employee, Gerard Williams, who left to set up his own firm Nuvia. Qualcomm had since acquired Nuvia, and Apple and Qualcomm had prior trade secrets issues between them. Apple settled under confidential terms in 2023.
• First Citizens Bank v HSBC Holdings
  Gibson Dunn represents HSBC in a $1 billion lawsuit brought by First Citizens Bank, for alleged trade secrets misappropriation and other claims. HSBC is accused of poaching 42 employees in one of the biggest recent ‘corporate raid’ cases. After Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, SVB UK was bought by HSBC, and SVB US was bought by First Citizens Bank. As such, this pending case presents interesting jurisdiction issues in both the US and UK.

Clients:

Apple, AMN Healthcare, Applied Materials, Archer Aviation (a subsidiary of Boeing), City Spark, DraftKings, HSBC, Verizon Communications (owned by Oath Holdings).